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DFA Live Election Debrief with Pramila Jayapal, Robert Reich and Keith Ellison

Congresswoman-elect Pramila Jayapal, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and Rep. Keith Ellison joined DFA members in the U.S. and around the world for a DFA Live Election Debrief Call on Thursday, November 10, 2016.

During the call, Congresswoman-elect Jayapal, Sec. Reich, and Rep. Ellison discussed the 2016 election results, what it will take to stop Donald Trump, and what we can do together to effect change in the coming years, while taking several live questions.

That episode and others offered clues to how Ocasio-Cortez and her social media practices fit into a national legislature that’s slowly becoming younger, less male and more diverse. The approach Ocasio-Cortez is modeling — and the political world is studying — gives her a measure of control by communicating directly with constituents and responding to critics in close to real time.

“She knows how to navigate this space in a way that others don’t,” said Yvette Simpson, incoming CEO of Democracy for America, a progressive political action committee. Also, Simpson pointed out, “She’s not accountable to that power structure” in Congress. “She’s accountable to the group that put her there.”